University of Southern Mississippi professor emeritus of history Dr. John D. W. Guice was named the 2011 Dunbar Rowland Award winner during the Mississippi Historical Society’s annual meeting in Jackson March 3-5.

Guice was honored for his lifelong contributions to the preservation, study and interpretation of Mississippi history. The award is named for Dunbar Rowland, the first director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Guice received his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his master’s from the University of Texas at El Paso. In 1969 he earned his doctorate in history from the University of Colorado and joined the faculty at Southern Miss shortly thereafter. He served as director of the American Studies Program at Southern Miss from 1976-1983 before retiring in 2000.

Throughout his career Guice has published several books and dozens of scholarly articles. His most recent publication is the book “By His Own Hand?: The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis.”